


The Private Affairs of Mitch Williams

by Chaos_By_Cam99



Category: Glitch Techs (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_By_Cam99/pseuds/Chaos_By_Cam99
Summary: Miko is curious and Mitch isn't a fan.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Rainy days were always busy for the techs, but for some reason today was slower than molasses. Miko and Five sat at the lounge TV deep into a game of Bash Sisters. 

"Your streak is over Meeks, I'm only one finisher away from finally taking you down." Five chimed excitedly. Miko rolled her eyes at her best friend before pulling off a strike combo and winning the match. Five slumped as his words a moment ago rang hollow. 

"Maybe next time you actually finish me before you start gloating, huh buddy?" The teasing tone was just enough to rile Five up. He lunged at his best friend, pinning her down and started tickling her sides.

"AH, NO!" Miko shouted before falling into a fit of laughter. This continued until Miko managed to get one of her hands in position to tickle Five back. The two went on like this for a few minutes until Mitch walked into the room. He was on his phone and not paying attention to the duo.

"Yes darling, I'll pick them up on the way home." The two stopped their thing and listened to the conversation. 

"I know, I've been doing closing shifts for the last couple weeks, but today I'm getting off early and we'll finally be able to spend some proper time together." They moved closer to the still oblivious blonde.

"Okay, I need to go. I'll see you in an hour and a half. Love you to sweetness. Bye." He hung up the phone and turned around only to be startled by Five and Miko standing next to him.

"Soooo, who was that?" Miko asked teasingly.

"None of your business blueberry." Five noticed Mitch's cheeks turning a little pink. 

"Ah, come on Mitch. You don't have to hide your girlfriend from us." Miko leaned against Mitch, and he promptly shoved her away." 

"First of all, you don't know my orientation. Second of all, it's still none of your business." Mitch's gauntlet beeped, signaling a new mission. 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." He left the room quickly. 

"Wow, that happened. What did he mean by orientation?" Miko wondered out loud as she sat back down. 

"I'm pretty sure he meant sexual orientation. As in whether he's attracted to girls, guys or both? You said girlfriend before, but maybe Mitch likes boys?" Miko thought for a second before it clicked.

"Oh...I'm a moron…" Miko sulked for a minute before popping up. 

"So we're totally following Mitch to find out who he's dating right?" Five spins the van keys on his finger. 

"Totally." And off they went. 

Meanwhile, just finishing up a glitch capture…

"I can't believe the blueberries heard me talking to Casey." Mitch whined to Zahra as they got back into his van. The girl just rolled her eyes. 

"Dude, you guys have been together for like a year now right?" Mitch nodded.

"So what's it matter? Pretty much everyone else knows anyways." 

"But those two are different. They won't let it go. Especially Miko. If she saw us together, I'd have to transfer stores. She's so nosy Z." 

"Look Mitch, I've known you for a while now." Zahra pulls over and turns off the van.

"I've never seen as happy as you are with Casey. They bring out a whole different side of you." Mitch nods again. A faint smile creeps onto his face thinking about his partner. 

"I just don't want people prying into my personal life, and you know Miko will, and she'll drag Five along with her." Zahra couldn't argue.

"Alright, I can see how much this actually bothers you. Why don't I talk to Miko. She'll listen to me." Mitch looked up, his eyes showing relief. 

"Thanks Zahra." Zahra started the van back up and the two headed for HQ.

"So, you two got plans for tonight?" Mitch snorted.

"Yeah, I'm picking up dinner on the way home and we're planning on having a quiet night in. Movie marathon, game marathon, maybe a little...something else." 

"Oh, naughty boy. Make sure you bring a raincoat." Mitch actually laughed at that one.

"Don't worry, we're definitely waiting on that one." The rest of the drive was a comfortable silence. 

The two senior techs entered HQ just as their junior counterparts were loading up to leave. Zahra noticed and stopped them while she and Mitch racked up their XP for the day.

"Hold it you two. Miko, before you leave, we need to talk. Follow me alright. Mitch, you can take Five right?" Mitch nodded. Zahra hearded Miko away as Mitch approached Five. 

"Alright noobie, here's the deal. I didn't appreciate Miko trying to get into my business again and you don't exactly try to raine her in. So I apparently need to explain basic decency to you." Mitch felt himself growing upset.

"My private life is just that, private. You guys don't need to know about this stuff, we're not friends. You seem to be the rational one between the two of you, so you need to stop Miko when she gets weird and wants to snoop. Understand?" Five looked at Mitch and was surprised to see actual concern and discomfort on his normally stoic face.

"Yeah, I understand. Sorry Mitch, we won't do it again, promise." Mitch felt his shoulders relax.

"Thanks Five. Let's just hope Zahra has as much luck with Miko." 

Meanwhile in the lounge…

"But Zahra, why can't I know? How much is Mitch really hiding?" Zahra sighed and sat Miko back down.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. You can't keep snooping into everyone else's business. One of these days Mitch is gonna stop whining to me, and start whining to HR." Miko crossed her arms indignantly. 

"Look, Mitch is a private guy. He likes keeping his work and home separate. It's just the way he is. And you're actually really making him upset and uncomfortable when you ask him personal questions like this. You wouldn't want someone constantly prying into your private affairs would you?" Miko sat for a moment, sighed and spoke her head.

"Alright, so do we understand each other? No more bothering Mitch about non work related things?" Miko reluctantly nodded. Zahra pat her head and lead them back to Five and Mitch. 

"Don't you have something to say, Miko?" The girl sighed dramatically but nodded.

"I'm sorry I upset you. I won't ask you personal questions anymore." 

"Thank you Miko, I appreciate that." His tone was genuine, which surprised her.

"Now if you'll all excuse me, my shift is over and I'm due home. Bye." They all waved him off and settled in to wait for their next mission.


	2. Home at last

The rain had finally stopped as Mitch got the spaghetti buckets into the passenger seat of his little red car and started home. At the stop light he texted.

Mitch: On my way home hunny. You mind opening the door for me? I'm gonna have my hands full.

A minute later, a reply came.

Casey: You got it babe. I'll be waiting for you ;).

Mitch chuckled to himself as he came up on his apartment building. Managing to work the elevator buttons he got up to his floor where he noticed a special cutie waiting in the doorway of his apartment. 

"Hey handsome, have a good day at work?" Mitch grinned wide and rushed over to the door.

"As good as it can get on a dreary day like this. How about you sweetness?" The two entered the tiny one bedroom apartment and set the food on a little kitchen island. 

"Not much to talk about. As much as I enjoy my job, being a tour guide can be a pain. The museum was packed today with everyone having nothing better to do." Mitch pulled his partner close and nuzzled their cheek sweetly. 

"Poor thing, I would have been tearing my hair out if I had to deal with that." Casey kissed Mitch on the nose and the two smiled. 

"Now let's hurry up and eat already. I didn't get a lunch break today and am beyond hungry." Mitch nodded and handed Casey their spaghetti bucket. 

The two snuggled up on their love seat and turned on some generic streaming service. They ate and chatted about their days as the show played in the background. After a while, the two finished their food and turned off the tv. Mitch stood up. 

"I really need a shower. Ended up stuck in the downpour during a callout today." Casey chuckled. 

"Oh the dangers of being a nerd." 

"Quiet you." Mitch felt the teasing look from Casey as he headed for the bathroom. 

"Guess I'll change into my comfy clothes, not planning on going out again tonight. I'll set yours out for you okay baby?"

"Sounds good, thanks love." Mitch called from the bathroom. After a hot shower and some time in front of the mirror, Mitch entered the small bedroom and grabbed the soft pajamas laid out for him. His coworkers would never let him live it down if they knew he had CatchyMon pajamas.

"So darling, you'll never believe what else happened today." Mitch joined Casey on the love seat and cuddled up close to them.

"You know the junior techs I told you about before, Miko and Hector. Well today they heard our conversation about me picking up dinner and Miko got way too nosy." Casey laughed. They knew how much Mitch liked keeping his job and home separate. 

"Yeah, it sounds like she does that quite a bit." Casey rested their head on Mitch's shoulder and nuzzled in. Mitch leaned his head against Casey's. 

"She does. It's pretty annoying. Though, I feel like she doesn't actually think she's in the wrong for doing it. Zahra gave her a talk today, but I don't know how much good it did." Mitch sighed and Casey leaned up a little to kiss his cheek.

"It's okay baby. Just relax, I'm sure things will be better tomorrow." Mitch nodded and pulled his partner closer to him. The two smiled and snuggled uninterrupted for a couple hours until Mitch's phone went off. 

"One sec, it's Phil. What's he want so late?" Mitch answered the call, Casey listened. 

"Hey Phil, whatcha need?" 

"Nothing this time. I actually have some good news. There was a scheduling error and we put too many techs on one shift. So how would you feel about taking tomorrow off?" Mitch was surprised, but very happy. 

"Sounds good to me. Can't remember the last time I had a free day." 

"Alright then. Have a good night Mitch, I'll see you again on Thursday."

"Night Phil." The call ended and Casey peppered Mitch with kisses. 

"Wow, a whole day off, how's it feel babe?" Mitch thought for a minute. 

"Weird, but in a good way. Wait...don't you have tomorrow off?" Casey nodded, a wolfish grin growing on their face. Mitch felt a little excitement and pulled Casey onto his lap.

"We'll have a whole day together. We can do whatever we want." Casey chuckled as they bent down a little to whisper in Mitch's ear.

"Whatever we want?" Mitch laughed and playfully batted Casey off so he could stand up. 

"Looks like it's about time for bed, don't you think love?" Casey stood up and wrapped their arms around Mitch's waist. 

"Oh yes, I certainly do." The two chuckled and headed for their bedroom. Many thought going through their heads. Thought of right then, and of tomorrow.


	3. Airing things out

Mitch suddenly jolts awake. His alarm didn't go off, he's gonna be late for work. He tries to rush out of bed, only to get his foot tangled in the blankets sending him face planting into the floor. This startles Casey awake.

"Mitch? What are you doing?" Mitch gets his foot unstuck and stands up.

"Alarm didn't go off, gonna be late, gotta go." Casey got up and grabbed his arm just before he could leave the room.

"Babe, calm down. You're not gonna be late, it's your day off remember?" Mitch stands and thinks for a minute. The conversation with Phil the night before coming back to him. 

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Casey chuckles a bit and kisses Mitch's cheek.

"You really are overworked aren't you? Well, we'll just have to find something to do to get your mind off it. How about a spa day at the mall?" Mitch smiled and nodded. Some pampering was just what he needed.

"Great idea love. What would I do without you?"

"I'm not planning on letting you find out. Now let's get ready for the day shall we?" Mitch nodded and went over to his wardrobe to get dressed. A few minutes later the two were in Mitch's car and on the way to the mall. 

Meanwhile, at Miko's house;

"But we already had a sister day! Why do we need another?" Miko whined as her mother was finishing making breakfast. 

"Because, last time Lexi had the flu and couldn't go with you. The three of you should spend time together. It'll be just fine sweetie. Now hurry up and eat." Miko sighed dramatically, but ate her food. 

"Well can I at least bring Five? He's like my boy sister." Miko's mom shook her head, already tired of her daughter's antics that day.

"Fine Miko." She said reluctantly. Miko grinned ear to ear.

"YES! I'll text him to meet us at the mall." The girls get ready and pile into the family van. At least she won't completely die of boredom with Five around. 

Already at the mall;

"Oh look Casey, they're have a couples special on massages today. Why don't we do that?" Casey looked over the menu as the two waited in the spa lobby. 

"That sounds nice. It should definitely help you relax a bit. Once we're done here we can go to the Nordstrom upstairs. I know you've been wanting to get a new jacket." Mitch played with the hem of his jacket. He'd worn the thing to death and it was starting to rip on the liner. He really wanted a new one before the one he had completely broke.

"That sounds perfect. Also I heard the diner has a new chilly dog on the menu. We should check that out also." Casey nodded. The two were soon called up for their appointment. Just as they were going back into the spa, Miko, Five, and Miko's sisters passed by. 

"Okay, we gotta hit the music shop. The new BTS album is out and I need it." Miko excitedly jammered on. Her sisters both sighed. Neither were into kpop like Miko. Five happily goes along, glad to be included. 

Two hours of shopping and fun later, the two separate parties decide it's time for lunch. Miko and Fi e enter the restaurant first, surprised to see Mitch in one of the booths with someone else. The two were sitting side by side smiling and chatting happily. 

"Oh yeah, I forgot Mitch had today off. Wonder who the other dude is? Time for some spy work." Five felt nervous, remembering Mitch's conversation with him the day before. 

"Or, we could just have our lunch and not bother…" Too late, Miko was on the move. Again her sisters sighed.

"You two can join us when she's done." Nika said. Five nodded and trailed after Miko. They got close enough to the booth to hear the boys talking. 

"Can you believe Nordstrom had a sale on my favorite jacket today? Talk about luck. I got three different colors. This has been so nice, getting away from work." The other young adult next to Mitch smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. It's nice to see you so relaxed." Miko and Five were surprised. Someone actually can put up with Mitch long enough to date him. 

"I KNEW YOU WERE HIDING SOMETHING!" The entire diner went silent at the shout. Mitch looked horrified. 

"What? What are you talking about? Were you listening to us?" 

"That's irrelevant. Who is this man?." 

"First of all, it's very relevant, and second of all, they identify as non binary." Casey was confused for a minute, until they remembered the night before. 

"Is this Miko? The one you told me about?" Mitch nodded, turning back to Casey.

"Hey! You haven't answered me! Who are you?" Mitch lost it.

"Miko, shut up. They don't have to answer you. You're being a nuisance, leave us alone." Miko was surprised by Mitch's death glare and aggressive tone. Just then a waitress came over.

"Excuse me Miss, but I'm going to ask you to leave. You can't harass customers like that." Miko didn't protest, going back to Five and her sisters. They picked up spaghetti buckets on the way home. 

Later on at Mitch's place;

"I can't believe she did that. This is ridiculous. It's one thing to annoy me at work, but to make a scene like that?" Mitch paced around the room in anger. Casey took Mitch in their arms.

"I don't know that she was thinking about it babe. It seemed kind of random." Mitch tried to calm down, curling himself into Casey's chest.

"I wouldn't be surprised, that girl never thinks before she talks." 

"Mitch you need to talk to her. Even if she didn't mean it, this still isn't okay." 

"You're right. I'll sit her down tomorrow at work. I just don't understand that girl. Why does she have to be such a weirdo?" Mitch rested his head on Casey's shoulder. Casey stroked his hair and patted his back. 

"Well, I think that's enough of that for today. Why don't we take our minds off things with some fun." 

"What kind of fun?" Casey smirked and winked at Mitch. Taking his hand, they lead him towards the bedroom. A fun night indeed.

The next day at work, Mitch hunted down Miko immediately. She was in the lounge with Five and Haneesh playing some vintage thing he didn't care about. 

"Miko, we need to talk, now." She knew this was coming, she thought about it all night. The two went to the tutorial room where they could talk privately. 

"Okay, so before you go off on me, I want to say I'm sorry. I went too far. I shouldn't have done what I did and I totally get that you're mad. I'm just...really sorry." Mitch stood there a moment dumbstruck. He didn't expect that.

"Thank you Miko, I appreciate that. I really just don't understand why this was a whole deal to you? My life outside of work isn't your business. Why do you think it's okay to try and invade that?" Miko thought for a moment. 

"I don't really know. I guess I didn't think. You're the only one of the techs I don't talk to about this stuff. I guess I just wanted to know how you work." Mitch nodded, he thought of something. 

"Miko, why do you not like knowing what people do?" Miko was confused by the question, she hadn't thought about it before. 

"I dunno. I guess I just don't like it when people keep secrets from me. I feel like when they do, it's because it could hurt me." There it is. He remembered the incident at the arcade with that stupid animatronic bear. She didn't have any friends outside of work.

"Miko, is this because of the bullies?" Mitch felt a bit bad when Miko winced at the word. 

"Maybe a little. Whenever the kids at school would be whispering, it was usually about me." Mitch suddenly hugged Miko. She was taken aback, but didn't pull away.

"I know what that feels like. It's why I keep myself so private. The less people know, the less they can use against me." Miko wrapped her arms around Mitch, returning the hug. She didn't think that he might have gone through some hard times to. The two stayed that way for a minute before parting. 

"I guess we both have things to work on." Mitch nodded and started towards the door.

"Hey, listen. What we talked about today. It stays between us, okay?" Miko smiled.

"Okay griefer." She playfully punched his shoulder, Mitch chuckled a bit. They were glad it was okay now.

"So, who actually was the person from before?" Mitch sighed.

"Their name is Casey. They're my partner and that's all you're getting." Miko giggled and smiled. The two went their separate ways. Both were happy to get things worked out.


	4. A new player

Mitch walked into work blurry eyed with a double espresso in hand. This set off a red flag for Zahra, as Mitch was a tea guy, and only drank coffee when he was in a bad mood. He lamely dragged himself to the locker room and Zahra followed soon after. 

"Sheesh dude, you look like you slept on a rock or something." Mitch gave the girl the best death glare he could manage.

"So what's up?" 

"My neighbors brought home their new baby yesterday. The kid's room is on the other side of the wall from mine. Those walls are thin as tissue paper." Zahra nodded in understanding. 

"Yikes, sorry man. The kid will probably calm down in a few months." Mitch sighed, chugged the last of his coffee, and went into the base. Five was chatting with Haneesh and Bergy when the two entered. Zahra looked around. 

"Miko not here today?" Five shook his head.

"She had to take her sister Lexi to a playdate. Texted a lot of crying emojis." Mitch snickered a bit at that. 

"Too bad, more Exp for me." Mitch tried to not sound exhausted. Zahra rolled her eyes and went to see the mission board. Haneesh came up next to her.

"Wouldn't get my hopes up Z. It's gorgeous out today, and with the last couple days being so dreary, no doubt people will be out and about. It's looking like a low one." Zahra sighed and wandered over to the lounge with Haneesh and Five. Mitch was already sat at one of the tables messing around on his phone. Zahra sat next to him and looked at the device. 

"Really? You're looking for noise cancelling headphones?" Mitch nodded and continued scrolling, not looking up from the screen. He really was out of it. Suddenly, the mission alarm went off. Bitt came into the lounge quickly. 

"Alert, alert, we are receiving an urgent SOS from Me-KO! Requesting any available tech to hurry to her location." Zahra stood up and grabbed Mitch. 

"Hey! What are you-" 

"You need something more than coffee to wake you up, let's go." Zahra practically dragged a still partially confused Mitch to the garage. They jetted through the portal and landed next to the indoor trampoline park. Just as they step out of the van, they hear a loud crash and multiple people running from the building. 

"Okay, not a place you normally find a glitch. Wonder what happened?" Mitch thought out loud. 

"One way to find out." The two rushed into the building. As they enter, they notice Miko crouched behind the snack counter with Lexi and a little dark skinned boy. Mitch Went wide eyed when he noticed the boy. 

"Leo?" He called out. The little boy looked up, his pale blonde dreadlocks falling in his face.

"Mitch!" He cried out, and started running towards the older boy. Miko tried to grab him.

"Leo no, stay down." But it was too late. The glitch, a spaceman of some kind, appeared and shot a laser blast right at Leo.

"NO!" Mitch shouted. He quickly ran in front of Leo, who'd frozen in place, and activated his shield. The blast deflected. 

"Zahra, cover me." Zahra nodded and started shooting at the glitch. Mitch picked up Leo and ran him back over to Miko and Lexi. 

"Mitch, what's happening?" He asked, tears streaming down his cheeks. Mitch felt a tug in his chest. 

"I'll tell you later. Right now, you stay with Miko and stay out of sight. Understand?" Leo nods. Mitch gives him a quick kiss on his forehead before running off to help Zahra. Miko is confused by the gesture. 

"Leo, you know Mitch?" Leo smiles.

"Yeah, he's my big brother." Miko was surprised. Mitch and Zahra took down the glitch after a few minutes and reset everything. Erased the memories of the last few left in the building before returning to the three behind the counter. Leo ran up to Mitch and jumped into his arms.

"Mitch, that was insane! What was that thing?" Mitch thought for a moment. 

"Leo, listen to me. I need to erase your memory of this okay. That thing, that glitch, you can't remember it." Leo was confused. He'd never seen Mitch so straight faced before. 

"But why?" Mitch looked away from his brother. 

"Because it's dangerous. Nobody can remember." 

"But, if I don't remember, what will happen to me?" 

"You'll just think some brat got food poisoning and the park was forced to close early." 

"Gross." Mitch chuckled. He lifted his gauntlet to erase Leo and Lexi's memories. 

"It'll only erase this memory right? Not all of them?" 

"That's right, don't be scared." Leo nodded and Mitch flashed the memory wipe. Miko looked between Leo and Mitch. Seeing them close together, you really could tell they were related. Miko took Lexi and Leo home before heading to the store. She found Mitch laying on the lounge sofa. 

"So how come you never mentioned a little brother?" Mitch sighed.

"Miko, you're doing the thing again. Work and home are separate, remember?" Miko pouted for a minute. 

"Okay, fine. But BTW, I like little Leo, he's a sweetheart." Miko left and Mitch was alone. He stayed there for a few more minutes before finally hauling himself up and back to work.


	5. Information obtained

The store was quiet, and Mitch was bored. He had gotten stuck on counter duty with Miko and Bergy. It was a little busier than usual because the new catchymon game came out that day and everyone was picking up their pre orders, but the crowd had finally lulled and the three techs were just standing around. 

Miko watched Mitch intently. Lately she's been more and more curious about the young man. There were so many things she didn't know about him, and really wanted to, but he was so stubborn about sharing. The door chime went off and Miko looked up to see Mitch's sister Audrey, along with little Leo. 

"MITCH!" Leo shouted and dashed to the counter. Mitch chuckled and moved in front of the counter to scoop up his baby brother. Audrey ruffled Mitch's hair, much to his annoyance and Leo's delight. 

"Hey bruv, we're here to pick up the catchymon thing. Leo got himself a pre order." Leo nodded excitedly. 

"I saved up all my allowance for three months. It's my very first game I'm getting all by myself." Mitch chuckled again at the proud tone in Leo's voice. 

"Well that's a big deal little dude. Let's see here." Mitch went back behind the counter and got on the computer. 

"Yup, here it is. One copy of Catchymon Starlight for Leo Williams. And I see you also ordered the exclusive legendary plush. Let me go and grab those for you." Leo bounced with pure excitement. Mitch moved to the other side of the counter and grabbed a game and a decent sized plush doll of a bat like creature. 

"Here you are buddy. Let me know how it goes for you. I'll see you both this weekend." Leo waved to his brother and dashed out of the store. Audrey rolled her eyes and turned back to Mitch. Miko watched as she began to sign to him.

'That little bug is going to be knocked out in an hour after the adrenaline stops.' Mitch laughed and nodded. He signed goodbye to her and off she went after Leo. This made Miko very curious indeed. The girl casually walks over to the counter. Mitch can already tell what's coming. 

"So...why did Audrey sign to you? I didn't know you knew sign language." Mitch sighed. He wasn't gonna get away from it this time. 

"It's just a thing we do sometimes, nothing more." Miko did not believe him. 

"Oh come on Mitch, you can't think I'm that dumb." 

"Well I did. I'm going on my break. Bergy, you're in charge." Mitch walked away and Bergy took his place behind the counter. Miko huffed. This time, she wasn't gonna give up. She followed Mitch back into the HQ, leaving Bergy alone. 

"Mitch seriously! Why won't you tell the truth?" Mitch seemed to ignore her, which annoyed Miko. Five walked by as this was going on. He stopped Miko in her tracks. 

"Miko, enough. I know you like being nosy, but he clearly doesn't want to talk. Please leave Mitch be." Miko huffed again. 

"But Five, this is different." 

"I don't care, Miko, it's not your business." Miko pouted, and dashed after Mitch. Five was left confused. He tried to warn her. They got to the lounge and Mitch sat down at the table with his lunch bag. Miko say across from him. He didn't look up from his phone as he ate. 

"Come on Mitch, just tell me why you and Audrey can sign. It can't be that big of a deal. Mitch?" She started to notice more. It didn't seem like he was just ignoring her anymore. It was almost like he couldn't hear her. 

"Yo Mitch? Mitch? MITCH??" The young man suddenly jumped a bit. He looked up to Miko.

"What? Why are you yelling. Don't just walk in here yelling like that." 

"I didn't, I've been sitting here for a few minutes. You didn't notice?" Mitch was confused for a minute. He tapped his headset before realizing what had happened. He quickly packed up and ran from the lounge. Miko was even more curious now. She followed him again, this time to Phil's office. She snuck up to the door to listen. 

"My headset is malfunctioning. I couldn't hear Miko when she was talking to me. I only noticed her when she yelled. Can you fix it?" His tone was nervous, which surprised Miko.

"I can definitely take a look, but it'll be a little while. You should grab your spare hearing aids in the meantime." Mitch nodded. He took off his headset and handed it to Phil. 

"Hearing aids?" Miko whispered to herself. Things started to add up. She hid as Mitch exited the office and entered the locker room. Miko again followed him. She watched him take out a small box and open it. It was indeed a pair of hearing aids. She waited for him to put them in before revealing herself. 

"You're deaf?" Mitch was startled again. This time he looked almost scared. 

"Miko, don't start."

"What? It's okay if you're deaf. It's not a big deal. So that's why you can sign." Mitch cut her off.

"Look, I'm not...completely deaf, only partially. I had Nomadic fever as a kid and lost my hearing young. Without my hearing aids, I can only get just enough to read lips. My headset has an extra feature so it can double as my hearing aid while I'm at work." Mitch sounded almost ashamed of this. Miko was confused. 

"Okay, so why are you so buggy about hiding it?" Mitch looked down shyly. 

"Like I said before. The less people know, the less they can use against you. People hear you have some kind of disability and they suddenly look at you like you're...wrong." Miko was stunned by this. She hadn't considered he'd been bullied for being deaf. 

"Has that happened before?" Mitch sat down on the bench, and Miko joined him. 

"More often than I like to think about. Sometimes when I'm just out doing normal stuff, like grocery shopping or getting dinner with Casey, people notice the hearing aids." Miko put an arm around Mitch's shoulder, he didn't try to pull away.

"I'm sorry Mitch. I didn't know you were so self conscious about it." Mitch sighed. 

"I'm not. I just hate when people look at me like I'm broken. It's not a good feeling." Miko nodded. Mitch quickly stood up.

"This stays between us. I don't like to advertise." Miko nodded again. The two went back to the counter to finish their shifts. About an hour later Phil comes out of his office with Mitch's headset.

"Here you go Mitch. One of the wires was shot." 

"Thanks Phil." The older man smiled and went back to his office. Mitch took out his aids and put his headset back on.

"How's it sound?" Mitch looked at the girl and smiled.

"Just as annoying as ever." Miko playfully punched Mitch in the arm. The two shared a laugh. Soon enough the day was done and everyone was heading home. Miko walked out with Five and noticed Mitch with Zahra. She scooted closer to listen. 

"I told you to keep that thing checked." Zahra was pointing to Mitch's headset. 

"I know, I know." Mitch rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying, at least you weren't out on a mission today. Just make sure you pay more attention next time." 

"Yes mum." Zahra sighed, but giggled a bit. 

"Alright griefer, see you tomorrow." Mitch waved as he got into his car and drove off. 

Another day, another piece of the puzzle that is Mitch Williams.


	6. Sick days

Mitch groaned as he tossed and turned uncomfortably in bed. He was sweating bullets and felt like the room was spinning. Casey came into the room with a bowl of soup and some juice. They placed the tray down on the bedside table. 

"Hey baby, you think you can eat? I think you should try at least. Looks like you need more water too. I'll be right back." Mitch slowly sat up and looked to his partner. 

"Casey, you don't have to fuss over me, I'll be fine. It's just a dumb flu bug." 

"Mitch, you have a fever. I'm not leaving you to your own devices again. Last time you barely ate or drank anything and nearly made yourself worse. So no more whining." Mitch rolled his eyes, which was a bad idea because it made things start spinning again. 

He took the tray and carefully had some of the soup, but his stomach started hurting, so he only had half. Casey came back with a glass of water and sat down on the bed next to Mitch. Casey gently ran their fingers through Mitch's hair, which felt nice. 

"I know you hate being sick Mitch, but you need to take care of yourself." Mitch groaned again. 

"But I had to miss work. Those losers will fall apart if I'm gone too long." Casey laughed.

"I'm sure they can handle a couple days without you. Phil said himself, he doesn't want you coming in when you can barely stand up." Mitch sighed and curled further into his blankets, suddenly feeling like he was going to freeze. 

"Mitchell Anthony Williams, stop being a brat. You need to get better. Now just rest and let me spoil you for a little while." Mitch sighed, but gave a small smile.

"Okay sweetness." Casey gave Mitch a gentle kiss on his forehead and snuggled in next to him for a nice nap.

Meanwhile, at Hinobi…

Miko sat upside down on the lounge couch. It was another slow day and only a few techs were around. Five walked in and sat next to her.

"Hey Meeks, what's up?" Miko sighed dramatically and flipped herself upright. 

"I'm so bored. Plus, Mitch hasn't come by to annoy me about being lazy and it's weird." Five looked at his friend confused. 

"Didn't you hear? Mitch caught that extra nasty flu and is stuck in bed. He won't be around for a few days at least." Miko perked up a bit.

"I had not heard that." Five suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut. 

"Miko, don't even think about it. We are not tracking down Mitch's apartment to see him. Even sick as a dog he'd kill us if we invaded his space like that." Miko huffed and fell back on the couch pouting. She knew Five was right, but she still really wanted to see Mitch Williams in a less than pristine condition. 

"Fine, I won't try to find Mitch's place…" Five gave her a sceptical look. Miko deflated a little more. 

"Oh, come on. Aren't you a little curious how that guy lives? He's probably got a serious game set up we could only dream of affording." Five sighed. 

"Even if he does, it's not our business." Miko huffed and got up.

"Fine, I'll just go play in the VR room." She started towards the door when she felt a tug on her arm. Five stood there, still sceptical. 

"Miko, I'm warning you one last time. If you try to bug Mitch while he's sick, I'm not going to vouch for you. I love you, but you really need to leave people alone." Miko nodded, suddenly feeling a little guilt in her stomach. Had she really been that bad? Miko left the room, Five sighed, returning to the couch and turning on a Furious Four stream.

Miko made sure nobody was around as she got into a van and road off. Now she just needed to figure out how to find Mitch's address. 

"Hey, what's the big idea Miko?" Miko turned around to see Haneesh at the control panel in the back of the van.

"Oops, sorry Haneesh, I didn't notice you." The older boy sighed and got into the passenger seat. 

"It's fine, so where are we going? You got a mission?" Miko felt a little nervous all of a sudden. 

"Not exactly. I was going to visit Mitch. I wanted to check up on him, since I heard he was feeling so bad." Haneesh nodded. 

"I get that, but I don't think it's a good idea. Mitch doesn't like surprises, especially when they're in his bubble." Miko huffed. 

"You sound like Five." Haneesh chuckled at that.

"Look, for as much as Mitch irritates me, I do on some level respect him. At least enough to not pry into his life outside of work. I think we should turn around." Miko sat there for a moment. She was really starting to notice her nosy behavior was going too far. 

"Okay, we'll go back. I didn't actually have his address anyway." 

"Really? Then how were you planning to find him?" 

"Spot his car. He has the red beetle." 

"Like the red beetle over there?" Miko looked over towards a decent sized apartment building. She got a big grin on her face as she pulled into the parking lot. 

"That's it, now we just need to figure out which one is his apartment." Haneesh sighed. He regretted pointing out the car. He could see the look in Miko's eyes, and knew he shouldn't leave her alone. The two got out and went up to the front door. They looked at the mail boxes.

"Let's see here...Walter, Waverly, Willson, ah there it is, Williams. 3-14." The techs went up in the elevator and found the right door. Miko was about to knock when Haneesh took her hand.

"Miko, are you sure about this? Mitch is probably going to be really upset with us." Miko thought for a moment, then knocked on the door. Haneesh was not amused. A minute later Casey opened the door. Their blue hair was tussled and they looked as if they'd just woken up. 

"Hey Casey." Haneesh said with a nervous edge in his voice.

"Oh, hey Haneesh,and Miko. What are you guys doing here?" Miko looked past Casey into the rather tiny apartment. It definitely wasn't what Miko was expecting. 

"We heard that Mitch was in pretty bad shape, so we came to check in. How's he doing now?" Casey smiled at Haneesh. 

"He's sleeping right now. Poor thing has been half way to death's door since yesterday. I think his fever is starting to break, though."

"Can we see him?" Casey looked over to Miko and shook his head. 

"I wouldn't recommend it. Don't need you guys getting infected." Haneesh nodded. 

"Understandable. Give him our best, will you?" Casey smiled.

"Of course. See you guys around." And with that, Casey closed the door. Miko and Haneesh went back to the van. 

"So, were you satisfied with the visit?" Miko thought for a moment. 

"I guess. Wasn't expecting Mitch Williams to be living so...minimally." Haneesh laughed.

"It's his first apartment. Not a lot of major buildings lease out to people under twenty. I guess it worked out since Casey is a couple years older than Mitch." Miko nodded and the two returned to HQ. 

Two days later Mitch was back at work. He still seemed a little more tired than normal, but he was mostly back to himself. He was stuck on store duty until further notice, by order of Phil. He stood at the register bored out of his skull when Miko came over to him.

"Finally feeling better, cap?" Mitch nodded, but seemed kind of out of it. 

"Casey told me you and Haneesh came to see me earlier this week." Miko nodded. She braced herself for Mitch to scold her again.

"Were you actually worried about me? Or did you just want to snoop again?" Miko was surprised by the questions. 

"Well, I guess it was a little bit of both. I did want to see how you were. You basically never get sick, but yeah, I did kind of wanna do a little snooping." Mitch sighed and turned to fully face Miko.

"Look blueberry, I don't know why you've been so intent on getting to know me all of a sudden, but I have a proposal for you. You have to promise you'll stop bothering me about my home life, and I'll answer five questions for you. Whatever you want. Deal?" Miko grinned excitedly and shook Mitch's hand. 

"Deal!" Mitch laughed at the hyper girl. 

"Alright, so ask away. Remember, I'm keeping count. You only have five questions." Miko nodded and thought hard for a minute. 

"Okay, question one. What exactly is your orientation? I remember you said something about it when I assumed you had a girlfriend." Mitch felt a heat rise to his cheeks. He regretted this already, but there was no backing out now.

"I'm pansexual. For me it's less about the physical body and more about the personality." Miko smiled. She thought some more.

"Okay, next question. Do any of the other techs know you're deaf?" 

"Besides you, Phil, and Zahra, no. And I'd like to keep it that way." 

"Alright, next one. What's your gaming setup like?" Mitch chuckled. He figured she'd ask this eventually. 

"Pretty good. We don't have a ton of space in the apartment, so it's all kind of scrunched together in the living room. I can't tell you about many times I've gotten half a dozen wires wrapped around my ankle." Mitch laughed harder. Miko laughed too. 

"Okay, Miko. You have two questions left. Use them wisely." Mitch watched as the girl kept thinking. 

"Do you have any friends outside of work?" Mitch was surprised by the question. 

"Yeah, I've got a couple good friends I hang out with regularly. Though we've all been busy and haven't gotten together in a few weeks." Mitch's face changed. He looked a bit sad. 

"Alright, last one. What are your parents like? I've met your siblings, but I haven't seen them before." Mitch stiffened at this, which worried Miko. 

"I'm sorry, was that too personal?" 

"No, it's fine. My parents are just...really busy. Dad is an attorney and mom's a neurosurgeon. They both work a lot and I don't see them as much as I'd like. Plus I'm grown up with a life of my own now. It's just...complicated." Miko looked sadly at Mitch.

"What about Leo? He still needs supervision." Mitch nodded. 

"Most of the day he's in school. Then he'll either go to a friend's house to play, or go hang out with my older siblings for a while. If I happen to be off that day, sometimes I'll take him." The two techs sat quietly for a little while. 

"You definitely asked more than five questions." Miko giggled. 

"You still answered me." Mitch sighed and rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, I guess I did. And we keep this little convo between us, got it?" Miko smiled and saluted. 

"Yes sir, Mr. Bossypants." Mitch laughed hard at that. Miko also laughed. They spent the rest of their shifts in comfortable silence. Eventually it was time to head out and they politely waved to each other as they went their separate ways.


End file.
